Review date:
03/14/2008
*The following article appears courtesy of Southern Lakes Newspapers, Burlington, WI
Soaring with the eagles, playing with the dogs
Local pastor’s book reflects on his struggles with blindness with the hope that others will see
By Andrew C. Westbrook
Genoa City resident Mark Schowalter has been a pastor for the last 28 years and has been without sight for nearly half his life. Both of these truths are elements of his first book, “From Eagle to Chicken and Back,” which debuted Feb. 25.
“I call it a semi-autobiographical collection,” Schowalter said of the book.
“I write about things that happen to me as a blind person and be able to laugh at myself and figure out where I went wrong and what I can do differently,” Schowalter said.
Schowalter lost his sight on his birthday in December of 1979, only several months after graduating from Lakeland College.
His sight loss was the result of his battle with Type 1 diabetes. The disease damaged his kidneys as well.
The book was nearly 30 years in the making. Schowalter began writing the pages that would become this book as a means of dealing with the difficulties he was facing.
“One of the things I did for my own therapy was to type,” Schowalter said, “(to) journal what I’m feeling.”
The book is a blend of different styles.
“It uses scripture, humor and short stories to get people to look at themselves and explore their own disabilities and handicaps,” Schowalter said.
The book evokes numerous emotions, from laughter to tears.
“There will be moments where people will cry with it,” Schowalter said.
Schowalter organized his pieces of writing that became the book chronologically with the help of a friend. Another friend put the written work onto a disk, which Schowalter said gave him better access what he had written.
“Suddenly, it became a usable format for me.”
He lists his friends, Kellene Maddox, Debbra Manly and Jeannie Douglas, as editors of the book.
He began combining his journal entries into a book between 1991 and 1992, at the suggestion of a friend.
Schowalter said it was a long process on the way to publication – he revised the book three times.
“The manuscript was written in the way that I talk,” he said. That was something he had to consider in the revision process.
“I’m pleased with it now,” he said.
He joked that he had an idea that the publishers rejected to have the words on every other page printed upside down. Then the reader would have read through to the end and turned the book over to read it back to the beginning.
Schowalter included many aspects of his life in the book, from losing his sight, to his divorce, to his ministry and his music.
The title reflects the ups and downs encountered in life and the way we appear to ourselves.
“I like eagles, the image of the eagle,” Schowalter said. “I feel proud of being the bold, masculine bird, but sometimes I’m a chicken, like everyone else.”
Part of the book deals with Schowalter’s initial thoughts and feelings about his blindness.
One chapter of the book that Schowalter said stood out to him was the seventh chapter, titled “Beware the Seventh Wave.”
Schowalter said the chapter describes the time he finally discovered he could view his disability as a gift.
“That was a turning point with my understanding of disabilities and handicaps,” Schowalter said.
Schowalter said this realization was part of the reason he continued his plan to attend the United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities.
He graduated in 1984.
“Everyone experiences some sort of handicap and/or disability,” he wrote on the back cover of the book. “How you accept this thought, deal with this thought, work with and through this possibility, and share yourself through your handicaps and/or disability is how others see you.”
Dogged determination
Writing is not Schowalter’s only outlet. For 20 years, he and his family have been breeding Doberman Pinschers with the intent of sending them to school to be trained as guide dogs.
In that time, his program has produced 41 puppies, 21 of which went on to become guide dogs, with one from their most recent litter in training currently.
The family currently has three dogs living at the house: Lady, Magi, and Schowalter’s guide dog, Daisy.
The dogs have been an added benefit when he visits people in need of counseling, he said, adding that dogs often help people feel comfortable and safe.
Ministry continues
Now, Schowalter continues to serve his ministry at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Genoa City, the fifth church at which he has worked in his years of ministering and the one from which, he hopes, he will eventually retire.
“I won’t say never, but I hope to stay here and retire,” Schowalter said. “My wife and I love this community; we feel at home.”
Along with his wife, Sue, he has three stepsons: Jason, Bret, and Boone. He said that everyone helped in some way or another in the creation of the book with one notable contribution being Jason’s cover art for the book.
Bret, Schowalter said, once had to pay off a telephone bill and was given the assignment of making sure the proofreader’s corrections were inserted.
At this point, Schowalter has invested nearly $1,200 in the process of turning his thoughts into the newly released work.
The book is available at Markschowalter.com or at www.authorhouse.com in the bookshelf section.
Schowalter’s own Web site, he added, will eventually include his blog entries.
Schowalter said he would be attending conferences in June, where he hopes to spread word about the book a little more.
Schowalter even has a second book on the way – one that he said would likely be more humorous.
For now he continues to share with others what he has learned in his own life.
“There are no hidden promises or guarantees that the journey is easy,” he wrote on the back cover of the book, which he describes as “simply an exploration and sharing of how one person found wholeness and inner joy through faith and humor.”
"Article was originally published in the March 14 issue
of the Genoa City Report."
Southern Lakes Publishers
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